Rico Tice makes an interesting observation in his book, Christianity Explored: “I didn’t have a particularly religious upbringing myself. In fact, my experience of Christianity was limited to a few dull sermons, slightly spooky people in strange garments, hanging about in dank halls and religious education lessons during which I attempted to find references to rugby in the Bible. Christianity was worse than boring: it was a fiction. Jesus walking on water, the three wise men, the feeding of the five thousand, Father Christmas and Winnie the Pooh were all mixed up in my mind together. They were all make-believe, best left in the nursery”. (Christianity Explored. The Good Book Company. 2002. P. 1)
When you consider who God is and what He expects people have many different ideas. Throughout history, people have tended to divide themselves based on who they think God is and how to worship Him.
In 931 BC, Israel divided in two and became Israel of the North and Judah of the South.
The Samaritans were so called because their population centered on the city of Samaria, which had been the capital of the kingdom of the northern tribes of Israel before it fell to the Assyrians in 721 BC. What the Assyrians did was to exile many of the Israelites out of their land and settle in their place peoples they had conquered from other lands
In 586 BC, Judah was conquered by Assyria and resettled with foreigners, which meant a loss of both racial and religious purity for those still living there.
• The Samaritans of the Judah built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim around 400 BC.
• In Verse 9: the Jews believed that all Samaritans were unclean.
o that phrase ‘for Jews refuse to have anything to do w/ Samaritans” could also be translated “Do not use dishes Samaritans have used” because a Jew would have been considered ceremonially unclean if they used a drinking vessel that had simply been handled by a Samaritan.
What is your vision of who God is? Who you think He is will impact your view of worshiping Him or if you see a need to worship Him at all.
True worship begins as 1) A Response to Contact with the Living God (John 4:19-20) 2) Not limited to a Specific Location (John 4:21) 3) Only as Valuable as Who it is Based on (John 4:22) and 4) Is all About the Attitude of the Heart (John 4:23-24).
True worship begins as 1) A Response to Contact with the Living God (John 4:19-20)
Before we can properly worship a Holy God we must, as the Samaratian woman was, be convicted of sin, the need for forgiveness, and repent.
Perhaps uncomfortable with her sin, trying to change the subject she asks Jesus:
John 4:19-20 [19]The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. [20]Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship." (ESV)
Her comment highlighted one of the major points of contention between Jews and Samaritans. Both believed that under the old covenant God directed His people to worship Him in a specific location (cf. Deut. 12:5; 16:2; 26:2). The Samaritans, accepting only the Pentateuch as canonical, chose Mount Gerizim. It was at nearby Shechem that Abraham first built an altar to God (Gen. 12:6–7), and it was from Mount Gerizim that the Israelites proclaimed the blessings of obedience to God’s commandments (Deut. 11:29). The Jews, accepting the complete Old Testament canon, recognized that God had chosen Jerusalem as the place where He was to be worshiped (2 Chron. 6:6; cf. Pss. 48:1–2; 78:68–69; 132:13).
We will see that in a New Covenant perspective the location is not the issue today. This passage is informative in what is still an issue.
• If God has directed something in regards to worship, we dare not disregard it for matters of convenience.
o In straight out disobedience, the Samaritans worshipped where and how it was convenient to them.
o We dare not pick and choose elements of God’s revealed will to suit our own preferences or a mistaken attempt to make others comfortable.
Quote: Pastor D. James Kennedy who died just a few weeks ago, defined what happens in most churches. “Most people think of the church as a drama with the preacher as the chief actor, God as the prompter and the congregation as the critic. What is actually the case is that the congregation is the chief actor, the preacher is the prompter and God is the CRITIC!”
Quote: Louie Giglio in his book on worship entitled “The Air I Breathe” gives this excellent definition of worship.
“Worship is Our response, Both personal and corporate To God –For who He is!
And what He has done! Expressed in and by things we say And the way we live.”
[Louie Giglio. The Air I Breathe. (Sisters:Oregon, Multnomah, 2003) p. 12]
Worship is about our whole lives:
Romans 12:1 [12:1]I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (ESV).
Worship is the direct implication of what we looked at last week:
Matthew 22:37 [37]And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (ESV)
Contact with the living God is by and through Christ:
Matthew 1:23 [23]"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel"(which means, God with us). (ESV)
Please turn to 1 Cor. 14
Some people mistakenly believe that we should tailor worship services to please unbelievers, outsiders or seekers. This would be worshipping them instead of our proper object of Worship, God.
Even if an unbeliever or outsider were to be in our midst, Christ should be central and visible in everything we do, so he or she should see:
1 Corinthians 14:24-25 [24]But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, [25]the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. (ESV)
True worship begins as 1) A Response to Contact with the Living God (John 4:19-20)
2) Not limited to a Specific Location (John 4:21)
John 4:21 [21]Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. (ESV)
Jesus’ unexpected reply was that Jesus would fulfill this element of worship. The time was at hand were, true worship would take place neither on this mountain (Gerizim) nor in Jerusalem. During the Jewish revolt against Rome a few decades later (A.D. 70), the temple at Jerusalem would be destroyed, and thousands of Samaritans would be slaughtered on Mount Gerizim. More significantly, the new covenant renders all external ceremonies and rituals, whether Jewish or Samaritan, obsolete. In fulfilling Old Covenant ceremonies and ritual, Jesus institutes the New Covenant ordinances of Baptism and Communion.
We build our lives around what we most value
o Some people plan their lives around a work schedule, career advancement or money
o Some build their lives around family activities, hobbies or vacations.
o Some worshipped God on one mountain or another. What or whom do you build your life around?
You easily be able to see what your starting point is for planning.
God demanded the first fruits of His people. He wanted the best of their time, talent and resources.
• Do you seek first to minister for God’s kingdom or whatever time you have left?
• Do you put your greatest effort for kingdom activities or when you are free from everything else?
• Do you give of what God has provided financially after you have covered everything else or off the top of your earnings and of how God has blessed you?
o Do you give a 15% tip but less than 10% of your earnings?
Matthew 6:24 [24]"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (ESV)
There are many indicators to show how we regard God.
There are different reasons why people go to worship:
Quote: It has been said: Some go to church to take a walk. Some go to church to laugh and talk. Some go to church to meet a friend. Some go to church, their time to spend. Some go to church to meet a another. Some go to church, a fault to cover. Some go to church for speculation. Some go to church for observation. Some go to church to doze and nod. The wise go there to worship God.- Author Unknown
Illustration: I was not expecting to preach this morning. Hopefully, you don’t come here to hear or not hear me. There is a story of the Congregational Pastor Henry Ward Beecher who was a great Congregational pastor of the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York for several years. He was one of the greatest preachers of the 19th Century. People would travel for hundreds of miles just to hear him speak. Henry knew he was going to be out of town one particular week so he asked his brother Thomas to preach for him that particular Sunday morning. As usual there were a great number of visitors in the congregation that Sunday morning, but when they realized that the man that had come to hear wasn’t going to be preaching some of them began to get up and start to leave. At that point Thomas Beecher stepped up to the podium and said, “All of you who came here this morning to worship Henry Ward Beecher may now leave; all of you who came to worship God may remain.”
True worship begins as 1) A Response to Contact with the Living God (John 4:19-20) 2) Not limited to a Specific Location (John 4:21)
3) Only as Valuable as Who it is Based on (John 4:22)
At the time of Jesus’ dialogue with the woman, the Jews were right and the Samaritans wrong since the new covenant had not yet been initiated. Thus Jesus said,
John 4:22 [22]You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. (ESV)
Because the Samaritans rejected most of the Old Testament, they lacked the full revelation that it contained.
• How about you? Do you see a different God in the Old Testament? Do you limit your study of the New Testament? If you do, you have cut yourself off from a full knowledge of who God is. How can you then love or worship Him?
• The more we know God, the better our worship can become. We understand this from human relationships don’t we? How can we love someone we don’t know?
Please turn back to John 2
Definition: Worship is properly ascribing worth to God: Worth Ship.
When Christ was explaining the nature of worship to the Samaratian woman, he was talking about how He now is the temple.
John 2:19-22 [19]Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." [20]The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" [21]But he was speaking about the temple of his body. [22]When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (ESV)
Our blessed Hope is to Worship the temple that is to come in the New Heavens & the New Earth:
Revelation 21:22 [22]And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. (ESV)
True worship can only take place in and through Him.
John 14:6 [6]Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (ESV)
There is a twofold sense in which verse 22 says that: salvation is from the Jews; first, the revelation of salvation came first to them and then to the rest of the world (Rom. 3:1–2; 9:3–5); and, second, the source of salvation—namely, the Messiah—was Himself a Jew (Rom. 9:5).
Jesus’ point was that, under the new covenant, the place of worship will not be an issue, but rather the nature of worship.
The significance in the work of Jesus, eternally affecting covenantal worship is the change that was brought about by the Death of Christ:
Matthew 27:50-51 [50]And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. [51]And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. (ESV)
• As people were previously separated from the presence of God based on race, gender and physical location.
• Those who worship though Christ now have access to God regardless of their race, gender or where they worship.
True worship begins as 1) A Response to Contact with the Living God (John 4:19-20) 2) Not limited to a Specific Location (John 4:21) 3) Only as Valuable as Who it is Based on (John 4:22) and finally:
4) Is all About the Attitude of the Heart (John 4:23-24).
John 4:23-24 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. (ESV) [24]God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (ESV)
But the hour/time had arrived, since the Messiah had come, when true worshipers would no longer be identified by where they worshiped. True worshipers are those who worship the Father in spirit and truth.
Please turn to Hebrews 10
The concept of worship looks towards an hour as Christ specified in Jn 4. We are commanded to do particular things in light of the hour of Christ’s death and coming again.
Hebrews 10:19-25 [19]Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, [20]by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, [21]and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [22]let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. [23]Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. [24]And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, [25]not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (ESV)
Please turn to Col. 2
Spirit does not refer to the Holy Spirit but the human spirit. Worship must be internal, not primarily external conformity to ceremonies and rituals.
Colossians 2:20-23 [20]If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations-- [21]"Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" [22](referring to things that all perish as they are used)--according to human precepts and teachings? [23]These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (ESV)
Truth calls for heart worship to be consistent with what Scripture teaches and centered on the incarnate Word. The worship of neither the Samaritans nor the Jews could be characterized as being in spirit and truth, even though the Jews had a more complete understanding of the truth. Both groups focused on external factors. They conformed outwardly to regulations, observed rituals, and offered sacrifices.
In the original (Greek) there is only one “in,” the preposition is not repeated before “truth.” In other words Jesus is not saying there are two things we must do, worship in spirit and in truth. Instead it is one complex idea; we must worship in spirit and truth. The two go together and make up the one acceptable attitude. As John Piper states, “Together the words ‘spirit and truth’ means that real worship comes from the spirit within and is based on true views of God. Worship must have heart and worship must have head. Worship must engage your emotions and worship must engage your thoughts.”
[John Piper. “God Seeks People To Worship Him In Spirit and Truth.” April 8, 1984 www.desiringgod.org/Resource Library ]
Quote: Vance Havner said: “God places high value on holiness, reverence, and worship. . . He approves neither idol worship or idle worship but ideal worship in spirit and truth.
True Worship does not consist of mere outward conformity to religious standards and duties (Isa. 29:13; 48:1; Jer. 12:1–2; Matt. 15:7–9),
God though His prophets had previous denounced mere outward action:
Isaiah 48:1 [48:1]Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right.
Matthew 15:7-9 [7]You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: [8]"’This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; [9]in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’" (cf. Isa. 29:13)
Worship of the Heart reflects:
Psalm 15:1-2 [15:1]O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? [2]He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; ESV
The Father is seeking such people to worship him
• I hope you realize by know that Christianity is not a works based religion. We can do nothing to earn God’s favour. The only one who did, and thereby enabling us to worship God is Christ, the one whom we worship through.
• This verse is not saying that we can do things to make ourselves worshippers that the Father is seeking for.
• We do not deserve the privilege of life through God. It is only through Grace, His unmerited favour.
• That means that God has soveriengly drawn people to them to Himself and thereby enabled them to be such worshippers. Worship is the reason we have been saved.
John 6:44-45 [44]No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. [45]It is written in the Prophets, ’And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me-- (ESV)
• Total depravity and irresistible grace.
Jesus then specifies who the God is that we are to worship:
John 4:24 [24]God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (ESV)
The phrase God is spirit is the classic biblical definition of the nature of God. Despite the heretical teaching of false cults, God is not an exalted man (Num. 23:19), “for a spirit does not have flesh and bones” (Luke 24:39). He is “the invisible God” (Col. 1:15; cf. 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:27), who “dwells in unapproachable light [cf. Ps. 104:2], whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Tim. 6:16; cf. Ex. 33:20; John 1:18; 6:46). Had He not revealed Himself in Scripture and in Jesus Christ, God would be utterly incomprehensible.
• God is beyond any physical location or ritual.
God is Spirit. Christ is the second person of the Godhead. He is God in the flesh:
John 1:14 [14]And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (ESV)
Because God is spirit, those who would truly worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
True worship emanates from the inner spirit. It must also be consistent with the truth God has revealed about Himself in His Word. The extremes of dead orthodoxy (truth and no spirit) and zealous heterodoxy (spirit and no truth) must be avoided.
Illustration: I want to close with a story about a particular worship service. About nine years ago, they found that their worship service had lost its spark Senior minister Mike Pilavachi says, “We seemed to be going through the motions, but I noticed that although we were singing the songs, our hearts, were far from Him.” They became too focused on what they liked about the worship service and had forgotten that they were not the audience. God is the audience.
Pilavachi says, “We were challenged to ask ourselves individually, ’When I come
through the door of the church, what am I bringing as my contribution to worship?’ The
truth came to us: worship is not a spectator sport, it is not a product molded by the taste of the consumers. It is not about what we can get out of it; it is all about God.”
They did away with the usual format. Even did away with the musicians. They began
to focus on things that would please God. People began to participate in the worship
instead of just being a spectator. Pilavachi comments, “The excitement came back. We were not having Church; we were once again meeting with God. With all the comforts stripped away, we worshiped from the heart.”
He tells that after the lesson was learned, they brought the musicians back. It was at
that point that their worship leader, a young man by the name of Matt Redman,
introduced a song that he had written out of this experience
Listen very closely to the words:
When the music fades,
All is stripped away, and I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that’s of worth
That will bless your heart
I’ll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself is not what you have required.
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear;
You’re looking into my heart.
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about you
All about you Jesus.
I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about you,
All about you Jesus.
King of endless worth
No one could express
How much you deserve.
Though I’m weak and poor
All I have is yours, every single breath.
I’ll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself is not what you have required.
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear;
You’re looking into my heart.
I’m coming back to the heart of worship
And it’s all about you
All about you Jesus.
I’m sorry Lord for the thing I’ve made it
When it’s all about you,
All about you Jesus.
